


The Epilogue

by KasakiKihoya



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types
Genre: Al has his body, Alphonse is a good parent, Baker Ed, Bakery, But boy can he bake, But is it really?, Confusing, Denial of Feelings, Ed can't do alchemy, Feelings, Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death, M/M, Out of Character, Possible Character Death, doppleganger
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-08
Updated: 2020-06-08
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:22:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,894
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24600772
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KasakiKihoya/pseuds/KasakiKihoya
Summary: Twelve years ago, Edward Elric disappeared forever. It can only be assumed that he made the ultimate sacrifice to return his brother, body and all. But when a boy wearing Ed's face appears in Amestris lives are changed, again, forever. It was only a matter of time until Roy spotted him, and so begins a slow fall. From sanity or into something new? Who knows. Roy Mustang and several others must come to terms with their unresolved feelings on the disappearance of Edward Elric.
Relationships: Alphonse Elric & Edward Elric, Alphonse Elric/Winry Rockbell, Edward Elric & Riza Hawkeye, Edward Elric/Roy Mustang
Comments: 3
Kudos: 17





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This story is near and dear to my heart. I wrote it for NaNoWriMo years ago. Unfortunately, after publishing the prologue on ffnet my notebook containing the entire handwritten manuscript went missing. So this story, minus the prologue, is getting a rewrite. It's meant to be a beautiful tale of what's lost and what's gained. Death and life moving on. Lost opportunities and second chances. 
> 
> I only hope I can do it justice the second time around.

_The end of our story is only the sorrowful beginning to a new journey._

When Al returned to Risembool, he did not expect to feel guilty about burning down his home. The home his mother had helped to keep in good working order, but also the home they had tainted with bloodshed. Their blood, but regardless the place had felt no good to them and would only prove to be a hindrance in times of doubt or weakness. He did not regret it, but his feelings were quite mixed on the topic. They still were, but trying to unravel his emotions no longer took up most of his waking moments. He had busied himself between running errands for Granny Pinako and helping Winry with the automail shop, which she had just recently taken over.

Despite having forced himself to be as active as possible, him and everyone else in that house knew something was missing. His brother had disappeared awhile ago, a sacrifice to the Gate in order to restore him to the world, body and soul. He was grateful for his life, but he had chosen to safe his brother. Edward had never allowed him to go through with that choice. At night when he would lay in the yard, looking to the universe for answers he would wonder if there was no way for them to once again live in the same world. They had given up everything during their teen years in pursuit of everything they had lost. How could this be equivalent exchange?

Alphonse had decided to take sometime for himself one day and sat himself near a river. He watched the current rush past him, once in a while tossing in a twig or leaf just to watch it float away. He sighed heavily, almost put out that this was what he spent his free time doing. He could not waste away wondering what had become of Edward. As much as he wanted to spend the rest of his life searching for his lost brother there was no way he could handle the burden of abandoning the Rockbell's again. He had succumbed to the idea that Edward was gone for good.

His brother had been such a strong person. Searching the ends of their world for a method of getting their bodies returned to them. He had sacrificed so much as well. His every moment was spent in research or following leads. No time to develop a relationship, no time to enjoy himself, and worst of all was that he had had no time to discover and chase a personal dream. Edward had become a slave to his pursuit of redemption, sometimes working himself close to death for the answers. Any other man may have broken under the strain of all of it, or even died much sooner than Edward had. Edward had always been an alchemist of a different caliber.

Al had decided that he had sat around for long enough. He couldn't expect Winry to manage the shop and take care of Granny all at once. He had decided it was a good idea to head back. The way the sky looked, it was going to rain soon anyway. He rose up to leave, turning his head away rather quickly, but he had managed to catch a glimpse of gold the same shade as wheat in the middle of summer. He turned back, but couldn't see anything. He dismissed it as nonsense and continued on his way home. It had probably been nothing anyway.

**-X-**

Winry was in the living room when Al returned, listening intently as Pinako went over some engineering principles with her. She turned when she heard the door and smiled brightly at Al. "Welcome home. Have a nice time?" Al smiled back and nodded. Seeing Winry smile had always been something he had enjoyed, and something he enjoyed even more was being able to smile back at her.

Winry had done a lot of crying during the time when he and Ed had been traveling. Somehow, Al believed she had done even more crying than that when only Al had returned home. She cried out of defeat and sadness for Ed, but also for joy at Al having returned. That day Al had known more pain than he had ever been able to feel before. It outweighed the pain of losing his whole body if only because watching Winry cry like this was enough to hurt his very soul. And all he could do was hold her. He couldn't even tell her that everything was alright like Ed had been able to. He couldn't do it because nothing was alright, and it never would be again. He held her, his hand rubbed her back. They remained like that for quite some time, exactly how long was uncertain but Winry had promptly apologized for making a scene.

Al remembered everything so clearly it was heart wrenching. He remembered reprimanding her for saying such crazy things. It had only been natural that she cry in such an odd situation. Al had been spared and that was worth some joy, but Edward had been lost. The sadness of that left its mark on all the joy of the moment, trampling over most of it. Winry had done nothing wrong acting like she had. Alphonse had even wanted to show some form of sadness at the loss of his brother, but he had decided to be a pillar of strength for Winry. He had refused to even acknowledge his feelings on the situation until they had put him up for the night. He had cried harder than Winry had, he felt broken inside. He may have had his body back, but the most important part of him had been taken away from him. Ripped away like it had been nothing but a piece of paper.

Nothing had been quite the same in the Rockbell home for a long time after Al returned. The air in the home was suffocating. Even the air outside seemed a bit constricting somehow. He knew why it felt that way and he knew Winry and Pinako felt it too. Their home, even all of Risembool was covered in memories of Edward. For some time, Al had considered getting a job and saving up money to move away from Risembool, but he had trashed the idea after realizing that he could not think of a city that did not remind him even a little bit of Edward. He was everywhere, all consuming and inescapable.

Al had lived like this for six years, although it gradually got better. Winry and Pinako still seemed concerned about him. Winry always looked like she wanted to give Al some words of encouragement, to comfort him somehow. But Al couldn't be comforted, and he suspected that Granny had known that. He would always be grateful that they had let him confront his emotions about Edward on his own. There would have been nothing they could do anyway. This was his demon to face, and although he would never truly defeat it, he could very well at least keep it in check. If not for himself than for the people around him that loved and cared for him.

**-X-**

"Hey, Granny, what did you want for dinner?" Al had placed himself in charge of cooking dinner lately to make things easier on Granny Pinako. She had been grateful, especially since it gave her more time to teach Winry everything she knew about automail. Al's specialty in cooking lay in baking, but they couldn't have cookies or brownies for dinner. That would be unhealthy and ridiculous.

Pinako looked over at him, and almost evil glint in her eyes. "How about you make some deep fried fish, Alphonse. Yes, that sounds delicious." Al's eye twitched. It wasn't that he hated fish, in fact it was one of his favorites, but he had figured out rather quickly that he was really no good at deep frying anything. Even bacon was a challenge for him. He was afraid of getting splattered, and no matter how many times he was coached he always seemed to overcook the food. Winry had had a terribly fun time mocking Al's cooking skills the first time it happened, seeing as he had burned the food and filled the house with so much smoke that the neighbor's had thought there was a fire.

Winry looked at Granny with a face that said clearly enough that she was about to have some fun with Al. "Are you sure about that Granny? He might actually burn down the house this time. Then what would we do?" Pinako snickered to herself, obviously happy she had made the suggestion, and knowing that Al was too bashful to turn down the idea. It was bound to be a fun night.

Al went red at the innocent teasing. He was shy by nature, and timidness always went hand in hand with shyness. Winry and Pinako were always professionals at making the younger Elric blush furiously. Instead of rebuking the claims that he would burn the dinner, even if they would still eat it, he stomped off to the kitchen. That action only seemed to cause them to laugh harder.

He looked around the kitchen, spotting the pan on the stove, the oil on the counter next to it and on that same counter was the fish that he was supposed to cook. Al was a bit creeped out at how they always planned this kind of thing ahead of time, and would always have everything set out for him. Vegetables he always fried with the fish was out. Al always insisted on their meals being somewhat healthy, so even if they were having fried fish they had to have vegetables.

In the end, everyone but Al was outside within twenty minutes, black tinted smoke rising into the air through every window in the house. Winry and Pinako had rushed around to open all of them before fleeing the smoke filled home. The neighbors were laughing at them, commenting on how little Alphonse had done it again. By now it was common knowledge that nothing was on fire, and it was just that nights dinner being burned to a solid crisp.

In the kitchen, Al had a wet towel over his face to filter the smoke, which was also ironically left on the counter, he then grabbed the pan and dumped it's contents into the sink and drenched it in water. The smoke in his immediate vicinity cleared quickly, but the rest of the house was another matter completely. Winry and Pinako would have to wait outside for at least another fifteen minutes. He looked out the window and saw Winry grinning madly at Al's catastrophe, whereas Granny was talking to some of the neighbors. Al's eyes knitted tightly together and his cheeks burned brighter than a tomato, a proclamation to his embarrassment.

When Al yelled out the window that everyone could come back in, they grabbed plates and took some of the fish, making sure to grab a knife on their way to the table. Even if the skin was horribly burnt, somehow Al could always salvage the meat inside, and it always managed to even taste good. It was the only reason that Winry and Pinako still allowed him to fry anything. The vegetables had been fried without a hitch, but Al's trouble seemed to lie in making any kind of meat. Fish included.

Over dinner, Al was far too embarrassed to say much of anything, knowing he would be teased if he did. So rather than engaging in conversation, he allowed his thoughts to drift off in other directions, not even paying Winry and Granny's conversation any heed. They typically left him to brood over dinners like these anyway. Al's thoughts ranged from a mental recap of the day, to Edward and then to his time at the river. He ended up thinking again about his supposed sighting of gold in the middle of the trees on the opposite side of the river. He had denounced it as a trick of his over active imagination, but he could be wrong.

He had only seen a shade of gold like that in one place. A shade that replicated the absolute best wheat flowing in a rare summer breeze with the rays of the sun bouncing off their precious bounty. It was a color that could do nothing but bring memories he'd rather not actively remember to the surface of his thought. But worse than that was the false hope it left him with. A tiny glimmer just waiting to be crushed to bits by the shadows of what was the truth. He was left with the nagging feeling that he needed to investigate, even if it did nothing but reaffirm the truth of the matter.

After dinner he excused himself, saying that after his adventure in the kitchen he really needed a breath of clean air. They laughed and snickered a bit, but waved him out the door saying he had earned a walk out in the fields. Al's legs felt more and more like noodles the closer he got to the river, and when he finally reached the banks he fell to his knees, but searched the woods beyond for any glimmer. He was just about to give up when he saw a small speck behind one of the farther trees. He clapped and pressed his hands to the ground, creating a dirt bridge across the river and rose up to bolt across. He reached the tree he was eying much faster than he supposed he would have, but he stopped a few steps short of the tree, preparing himself for the fact that it may not be Edward. It was far more likely someone else.

He cautiously approached the wooden barrier to his sight. One look at the face told him so many things, not all of them making sense. The face belonged to his brother, there was no doubt about that, but it looked far too young. This face had to be at least ten years younger than his, if not more. The Edward look alike wasn't wearing a shirt, instead it was rolled up and tied around his calf. He had gotten a nasty gash, most likely from a plant covered in thorns. The real telltale sign that this was not Edward though was his shoulder. Edward had had a vicious looking scar on his shoulder from the automail surgery and another scar from a fox bite. A mark he had received during their training with Izumi.

This was not Edward, but he had his brother's face. That thought made him angry, but the boy needed some help. That much was obvious, so he lifted him up and slung him over his shoulder, carrying him back to the Rockbell's. He could only wonder how they would react to this new turn of events.

He opened the door, and when the two women saw the person that he had in his arm they could only ask one question. "Is it Edward?" Winry half whispered. Al shook his head.

"No, but he looks just like him, huh?" Winry nodded, her and Pinako more confused than Al was. They both moved so Al could lay him on the couch. "He needs that gash on his leg disinfected and wrapped up properly. A shirt to wear might be nice too, but I'll take care of that." Al rushed up to his room, trusting that while he was gone Winry would see to his wound, which she hurriedly went to get the supplies for. Pinako went to her bedroom to yank out a spare pillow and blanket. By the time Al got back from getting some fresh clothes, Winry was wrapping the leg up, and Pinako was placing a pillow under his head.

After the immediate affair was taken care of, they all gathered in the kitchen so they wouldn't wake up the doppelganger while they spoke. The silence that took hold when they were first seated was nothing but pure tension. Winry was the first to break it. "Why does he look like that?" Pinako continued to look at the table top, but Al's eyes shot up in her direction.

He knew the feeling all too well at the moment. He was angry and upset that this kid had his brother's face, and it also made him sad because in his mind it proved that he would never see the real Edward again. "I don't know. But where did he come from?"

Without looking up Pinako spoke. "Does it matter? Besides, only the boy can answer that question." Winry and Al nodded. There was no point whatsoever in asking questions they could not answer.

"Can we actually let him leave here looking like that though? Just imagine if he ended up in Central... All that commotion and chaos. And poor Gracia if she meets him." Everyone at the table could sympathize with Winry's words. No one who had met the real Edward would be able to stomach seeing this one and finding out it wasn't him.

Al was nervous about the only solution that came to mind. He didn't want to do it, but he had to. If nothing else he could do it because this boy wore the face of the brother he loved so much. "Then what should we do? Just keep him here?"

Winry looked Al right in the eye. "That's all we can do if we want to avoid causing other people the pain that seeing him would create." Al looked away, but nodded.

"Then it's settled. Let's get to bed. The boy doesn't look like he'll wake up anytime before noon tomorrow anyway." Pinako's statement ended to conversation as she walked off slowly to her room. Al and Winry went to their room, both thinking that it was such a good idea to send Leonardo and Emilia to Gracia's for the week.


	2. One

_Some hurts never truly heal._

There were many things that Alphonse learned in the six years that followed. Such as the fact that Edward Elric was not his brother. For every bit of him that looked like his brother there were easily ten or more differences that proved otherwise. It hurt to realize it every time, but surely the pain was meant to dull over time? It never did.

Ed’s smile, bright and mischievous as ever, was no longer haunted by the ghosts of the past. For him, that past had never happened. This Ed was not Alphonse’s brother. He was ten years too young for starters. Exactly ten years. And seeing Edward that young again was what triggered the nightmares.

At least a few nights a week Alphonse would wake in a cold sweat in the middle of the night. The distant feeling of nothingness before his brother had managed to connect his soul to the giant armor made everything in the moment feel far away. On bad nights he could see the horrible mass they had created. The blood splattered everywhere. His brother bleeding out.

**\- X -**

Winry had done her best to be supportive of Al’s decision to keep… Well, to keep Ed. When the boy had woken up for the first time he had been cold and groggy. His body had been thinner than it should have been. Not like Al’s, but it still didn’t look good. Being able to see the outline of bones under skin was something that had always made Winry uncomfortable. She had barely been able to keep eye contact with Al those first couple weeks.

But Ed had opened his eyes and told them with that same heartfelt honesty that his name was Edward Elric, born in 1909. Then he had apologized and told them that that was all he could remember. Winry had felt her unease grow. She could recall the stories of the homunculi, like Envy, who had been able to change appearance at will. Winry had spent a month subtly checking Ed for an oroboros every chance she got.

When Leo and Em had come home from visiting Gracia, a mere couple days later, Winry had sat Leo down and explained that they had taken in a lost child and that Edward was their brother now. Em had only been two at the time, and so she grew and just assumed that Ed was her brother. Leo had been quick to warm up, but his temper was equally as quick when stoked. Leo tended to lash out when he was mad, and that first year saw him throwing out words like ‘you’re not really my brother,’ and ‘I hate you’.

Edward just bowed his head, shoulders tense. For several long moments there was silence. Ed’s shoulders would start to shake and he would say ‘I’m sorry’. The first time this happened Winry saw Al silently start crying before turning away and locking himself in their bedroom. By the time Winry looked back, Leo was wrapping Ed in a hug. Her heart ached with the echo of an Ed and Al from a lifetime ago.

**\- X -**

Edward Elric turned eighteen in 1927.

Despite the reminders of what could never be again, Winry and Alphonse had mostly dealt with their demons regarding Ed. And as their own children grew up they got along fantastically. Emilia was now eight and Leonardo was eleven. Alphonse opened his eyes, blinking sleep away and turning his head out of the rays light shining through the gaps in the curtains. After a moment he noticed the warm and inviting smell that had to be coming from the kitchen. Winry was still fast asleep next to him so there was only one person it could be.

Ed had taken to baking even more than Alphonse. The two had spent a lot of time in the kitchen that first year. Al, baking various good for everyone, and Ed watching with rapt attention. Emilia’s third birthday had come around and Al was holed up in the kitchen baking the perfect chocolate cake for the special day. Ed had wandered in for a glass of milk, yet another difference Al couldn’t get his head around.

"What are you making?” Ed had asked quietly as Al was whisking the batter. He looked over his shoulder to see a shy Ed trying to get a better look. It seemed that curiosity was a branded Elric trait after all.

Al smiled and continued whisking. “A cake for Em. Want to watch?” Instead of responding Ed had slowly moved closer until he was right next to Al. He had watched intently throughout the entire process. Ed had only managed to stay quiet for the first ten minutes before he was shooting off questions with an all too familiar intensity.

More than happy to entertain, Al gave detailed answers for every question. Sometimes he would even answer the next one before Ed could even ask. By the time the cake was done, Al and Ed were so engrossed that they had also started batches of chocolate chip cookies and plain vanilla cupcakes. Winry had walked in to find the kitchen a disaster and almost started chiding Al. But at the sight of Al and Ed, eyes bright and shooting ideas off one another she couldn’t bring herself to do it. She smiled and silently slipped out.

This time it was Alphonse wandering into the kitchen as Ed whisked a bowl of batter. “Morning Ed,” Al said with a yawn in his mouth.

“Morning. Wait until you see this!” Ed’s enthusiasm for baking had only grown with each passing year. He had even started selling muffins down at the station to hungry travelers a few times a week. The small project had quickly taken off and now it cost nearly twice as much to travel to or from Risembool on a day when Ed was selling.

It did Al’s heart good to see the passion etched into his face. Once upon a time his brother had held that same passion for alchemy and his goal to retrieve Al’s body. Now, his eldest son held that same passion for creating sweets. Besides, Ed couldn’t perform alchemy. It was one of those things they had discovered within the first few days of Ed’s arrival.

Al shook that thought from his mind, choosing instead to perch himself against one of the counter tops near Ed and watch him work.

Nearly an hour later found them admiring a lovely cake with a shimmering glaze. Al hummed his approval, missing the anxious look Ed shot his way. “Ed, this is just incredible,” Al said, eyeing the piece of edible art Ed had created.

Ed shifted his weight back and forth for a moment. “You think so?” He asked uncertainly. Al clapped a hand on Ed’s shoulder.

“I don’t know anyone who can do anything like this half as well.” Al confirmed, leaving no room for doubt in his tone.

Ed shuffled once again, and Al caught on to the increased nerves Ed was displaying. Instead of bringing attention to it though Al remained silent and waited for Ed to say his piece. When Ed looked up at Al his face still held some anxiousness to it, but there was also an undercurrent of determination in Ed’s amber gaze.

“I want to open my own shop.” Ed said bluntly.

For a split second Al’s eyes widened, but just as soon as that passed he was laughing gently. “Oh, Ed,” he said amiably. “A shop like that would be a sensation here in Risembool.”

But Ed shook his head vehemently.“No, not here.” Ed countered. “I want to open a shop in Central.” In Central, and all Al could think of were the faces of their many friends who neither him nor Winry had told about this Ed. There was no doubt in his mind that he would be spotted in that city. It was only a matter of _when_. The Colonel, Riza, Havoc… So many people who could be impacted were in Central.

Ed noticed his hesitation and went on. “I’ve been saving all my money from selling at the station. I have more than enough to afford a shop, outright, and supplies to get me started.”

“Ed I-I…” Al stuttered. How are you supposed to say no? How do you tell someone they can’t because of who they look like? Al knew then that it had been a mistake not to tell him about Edward Elric, his brother.

“I can do this!” Ed insisted, expression growing worried. The outburst was enough to get Al out of where his head was going. Little good that would do. Ed was right here, right now, getting more upset by the minute.

Al looked down at the cake, all of this Ed’s hopes and dreams in one small and magnificent creation. “Ed… There’s something I need to tell you,” Al said quietly in the quiet of the kitchen. “Something I should have told you a long time ago.” And Al could practically feel the trembles in Ed’s breath form with each word.

**\- X -**

It had been a long and emotional talk. Winry had woken up and joined them after a short time, making sure to send Em and Leo out to play as quickly as possible. But the two younger kids hadn’t missed Ed’s red rimmed eyes, and Leo knew.

“Mom, why do you have to tell Ed he’s adopted?” Leo had asked as Winry was trying to usher him and Em out the door. Caught off guard Winry almost blurted out that he wasn’t adopted, but managed not to.

“Leo…” She said instead. “Sometimes you have to say the hard thing. Not because it’s right to say it, but because it’s not yours to keep.” It was vague and felt like the worst kind of half-truth on her tongue. “Does that make sense?” The acrid taste of dishonesty wouldn’t leave.

But Leo accepted that and nodded. “Yeah… Call us back when you’re done?” The boy asked hopefully. Winry could only nod her head as she turned back to support Al.

Ed listened and listened, never saying a word. And nobody could blame him. It sounded like a made up story when Al heard himself talk about it.

But Ed listened. Even when Al got to the part about his brother just vanishing and the heartbreak that was left in his wake. Ed listened, tears streaming down his face. When Winry chimed in telling Ed about how Granny had been in the hospital for a week after the disappearance Ed still listened. Even though he had to cover his face during that part. Granny Pinako had passed away just a few months ago, and the family was still hurting from it.

And when Alphonse and Winry finished telling him about Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist, Ed looked at them. More determined then ever to make a name for himself. To carve his own path. To make every damn person in Amestris know that he was his own person with his own talents. Looking into their eyes as he thought this was what sparked the idea.

“I’m going to name my shop ‘Alchemy’.”


End file.
